Plainclothesmen try to get into apartment of opposition politician Dzyanis Sadowski

Men in civilian clothes attempted to get into the apartment of Dzyanis Sadowski, executive secretary of Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD), in Minsk on Monday morning.

"BCD activists hold meetings at Sadowski's home from time to time," BCD Co-chairman Vital Rymashewski told BelaPAN. "Our activist happened to be there in the morning and did not open the door when plainclothesmen rang the bell."

Unidentified men currently stay in the yard of the apartment house, on staircases and even on the roof, Mr. Rymashewski said. They allowed the BCD activist to leave without any impediment.

"I have no idea what these people want," he said. "Maybe Alyaksandr Lukashenka has decided to inspect yards in Minsk. As for Sadowski, he is not in Belarus. He is staying abroad."

On October 5, a child welfare officer visited the apartment to assess the living conditions of Mr. Sadowski's three-year-old son and four-month-old daughter

The social worker announced that she would like to see how he and his wife looked after their children. She noted that Mr. Sadowski had repeatedly been arrested and convicted under the Civil Offenses Code.

Mr. Sadowski described the incident as an attempt to put pressure on him for his political activities. He stressed that adults could not be expected to be at home in the middle of a working day, and that child welfare officers never visited the homes of people who had served jail terms for committing real offenses.

"The district police officer visited me right after the September 18-23 parliamentary elections, now child welfare officers are interested in my family," Mr. Sadowski said. "I don't know exactly what they want, but I can say for sure that this is stressful for me and my wife. It's one thing when authorities give me a hard time, but it's another thing when they go after my family and kids."